The state''s commerce and industry minister Nirupam Sen said the government was in talks with the developer, the Bengal Shristi Group, to finalise the details of the project.

Bengal Shrishti is in talks with some German companies that are interested in setting up manufacturing units in the park, which is likely to get SEZ status, though no final decision has been taken on the issue. The developer will go in for direct purchase of land for the project, Sen told the media in Kolkata on Tuesday 16 October.

A 16-member German delegation comprising members of the German engineering federation Verband Deutscher Maschinen und Anlagenbau (VDMA) was in Kolkata on Tuesday to explore business opportunities. This was their first stop in the country.

VDMA comprises 3,000 manufacturing companies. The delegation represented various sectors like machine tools, chemical industry, software and other industries. Sen pointed out that his government provided incentives, including concessions in fixed capital investment and VAT. There could even be further incentives on a case-to-case basis, he said.

Last year, the manufacturing sector in the state grew by about 9.7 per cent. The minister also talked about the investment that the state was attracting, especially in the iron and steel industry, as well as the food-processing and petrochemical sectors.

The managing director of VDMA''s trade wing, U Ackerman, who heads the delegation, said that with most companies vying for China, India is an emerging destination for German investment. Germany is India''s biggest machinery supplier. Exports from Germany to India rose from €1.5 billion to €2.5 billion in 2006. September.